foference in the specite gravities, as on the first type. TE FOLHERS To ofte storage oms very trost tor the purpose of cooling, while at the same time getting rid of it. Instead of the brine being used is the agent of refrigeration in the coils, it is obvious that there could not be any obiections to expanding directly the volatile liquid in the coil itself, as it is done in cellars of breweries by certain systems of ice machines. preserving at the same time the other characteristic features of this type. We may make here a remark in passing, that the lower the temperature at which the air will have to he circulated around the meats.-and in the case of the congelation of the latter it has to be very low and greater uniess some remedy be afforded, the greater wil be Congrindinal Section Fig.1. ing the night! The cold storage has two stories; one, a basement, is reserved for fish room and cellars for wines and beers. The meat room is on the first floor. It can store 22,000 pounds or eleven tons of meat. The steam engine has a power of 50-horse power, and the ice and refrigerating machine a capacity of 14,000 thermal units per hour. A certain amount of ice is made by the machine, and finds there a ready sale. As this cold storage does not present any special feature, we will limit ourselves to this simple mention, inserting only on this point: The temperature in the storage rooms is maintained above freezing point." THIRD TYPE. That which distinguishes this class of cold storages, and makes of it a special type perfectly distinct from the two others, is: First, That the circulation of the air in the meat rooms is obtained artificially by a mechanical device, a blower, instead of being produced naturally by the difference in the specific gravity of air at different temperatures. Second, Though the air be cooled, as in the second type, by contact with metallic sur faces, the mode of cooling these surfaces is essentially characteristic; the brine is dispensed with, and recourse has been had to the direct expansion of the volatile liquid itself in the coils as the agent for production of cold. The air cooler corresponds, in fact, to the "refrigerator" in the system of ice machines in which brine. is used as an intermediary mode of transmission of cold; in other words, it represents the pipe system of a cellar in which ammonia is directly expanded, with this difference, that the cooling operation takes place in a separate room and not in the meat room itself. Third, Finally, in all the installations of this type a special arrangement of this direct expander, or air cooler, has been adopted, by means of which the objections resulting from the condensation of the moisture as frost on the cold pipes are obviated. We will first make a cursory review of a few cold storages of this kind on the Continent, reserving for the last the most important of all, which we will choose as a model of the type, illustrating its principal dispositions by figures, before proceeding to describe, with some details, this system of special air cooler in which the formation of the frost on the pipes is taken advantage of to contribute to the cooling of the air, at the same time getting rid of the frost itself. At Lisbon the cold storage has been established in an old powder house, the walls being forty-two inches thick, insuring, of course, all the insulation desired. In Portugal fish forms the basis of the alimentation of a certain class of the population, and fishing one of the national industries. The introduction of cold storage for the preservation of this article of consumption has been a source of wealth for the country. Fish, thus preserved, have been transported in refrigerating cars to the markets of Madrid, a transit of twenty-four hours, without being "beheaded," a practice which was rendered necessary previous to the use of artificial refrigerators on account of their unsightly appearance. "Fish suffer less from congelation than meat does, " as far, at least, as retaining its palatable qualities, says Mr. Tellier; but it cannot be preserved for such long periods as meat for two reasons: First, the eye dries. up and loses its shining appearance after too long an exposure to cold. Second, if frozen, the skin, being less elastic, gets hard and is detached from the flesh. But if the lowering of temperature is limited to 34° F.," or thereabout, and the time of preservation reduced to about three weeks, "both the merchantable quality and appearance of the fish are retained." At Lisbon the cold storage is established on the principles of the third type. The circulation of air is obtained artificially by means of a blower, the temperature in the room not being allowed to reach below 32° F. At Brussels the cold rooms are constructed below the market, in the basement. The storage has a capacity of 175,000 cubic feet, covering in all a surface of 325 feet by 115 feet. Elevators take the meats and other stored articles to and from the level of the market proper. The refrigerating machine makes both ice and cold air, condensed water being used for the ice. The air cooler is of the peculiar type we have mentioned and which we will describe further. As in the second type, the air is cooled by its contact with cold metallic surfaces, and, as in the two first types examined, this cooling is done in a special and distinct room, but with this difference, that, contrary to what is done in the two first cases, this room has no communication whatever with the meat rooms; it is entirely distinct and may be even at a certain distance therefrom. This remark applies also to the Lisbon cold storage. The warm air is continuously exhausted from the meat room by means of a blower which forces it through the cooling apparatus, discharging it, cold and dry, in the meat rooms, to be returned again to the cooler, when warmed up, by the action of the blower. At Brussels, 1,000,000 cubic feet of air are thus cooled and passed through the storage per hour, the temperature of the air being maintained above that of the freezing point (34° to 36° F.). The cold rooms are divided into three parts; the first, forming a sort of "ante-room," is intended for those products which do not require a great lowering of temperature, and which can be kept for a day or two without danger at a temperature of 44° to 45° F. (+7° to +8° C. ) as long as the air is dry. In the second are stored the meats and those other articles which require a temperature of +2° to +3° C. (35° to 37° F.) to insure their preservation. for a certain time. The third room is intended for salt meats, a special space being reserved for what is called there "German beers,” which arrive in casks at Brussels in refrigerating cars-all articles which it is advisable to maintain at the low temperature of 35° to 40° F., until they can be dealt to the consumer. The whole storage is lighted by electricity. THE [10 BE CONTINUED.] HE proposition of the city council of Newark, N.J., to exact a license fee from ice dealers in that city is not an encouraging one, but the legitimate dealers say they are willing to pay a license fee if the city will prohibit other people from selling ice. The fees would have to be fixed as high as $50 or $75 to keep junk dealers and others, who now sell ice, from competing with regular ice men. There was opposition in the committee to a high license on the ground that it would give ice dealers a monopoly. -The Central Ice Co. is a new firm in the ice trade at Los Angeles, Cal., who will sell only manufactured ice. -The Lauer Brewing Co.'s Park brewery, Denver, Colo., has just been equipped with two De La Vergne refrigerating machines, each of thirty tons capacity. LAbstracted for ICE AND REFRIGERATION.] A LEGAL DECISION. LIABILITY FOR LOSS OF HORSES HIRED FOR CUTTING ICE-THE QUESTIONS OF NEGLIGENCE AND VALUE OF SAFETY FENCES AND APPLIANCES FOR RESCUES. SEVE EVERAL questions of interest have been passed upon by the Supreme court of Wisconsin, in the case of Stacy v. Knickerbocker Ice Co., which was brought to recover the value of horses killed through the ice - company's alleged negligence. The ice company had hired a span of horses to be used in its business of cutting and removing the ice formed in Fowler lake. The only express stipulation in the contract of hiring was that the horses should be driven by a certain person. In all other respects the conditions and obligations of the contract were those, and those only, which the law implies. One of these, says the Supreme court, is that a person who hires another's property is only liable for the consequences of the want of ordinary care of the property hired, which in this case was the span of horses. If such property is injured or lost while in his possession, without negligence or fault on his part, the loss falls upon the owner, and not upon him. In three particulars it was contended that the ice company was negligent, which negligence caused or contributed to the loss of the horses: (1) It failed to indicate the location of the thin ice by a fence, as required by statute; (2) it failed to notify the driver of the horses of the location of the thin ice; and (3) it failed to have ropes and appliances at the place of the accident to be used in getting the horses out of the water before they drowned. But the testimony showed that had all these precautions been taken they would not have saved the horses. (1) They were uncontrollable; were rearing and plunging and getting away from the place where they became frightened as rapidly as they could. The fence of the statute (which is a single fence board nailed on 2×4-inch posts, 31⁄2 feet from the surface upon which the posts stand) would have been but gossamer before those powerful horses, frantic with fright, upon whom two strong men could make no impression. Besides, it is very doubtful whether the statute has any application to this case, inasmuch as the employes of the ice company were then actually engaged in removing the ice adjoining the place covered by the thin ice, and it would seem impracticable to place and keep a fence around the margin of the opening before the work there should cease. (2) Exact knowledge by the driver of the horses of the location of the thin ice was not a possible factor in the loss of the horses, for, had he been fully advised where the thin ice commenced, he was powerless to prevent the horses going upon it. He went into the water with them, and was rescued. Were he suing the owner of the horses for negligence, there would be a case where the fact that he had not such knowledge might be material, but is not material here. (3) We are aware of no rule of law, continues the court, which required the ice company to have, at the place and time of the accident, ropes and appliances suitable for use in hauling the horses out of the water. Moreover, had such ropes and appliances been there at the time, the proof is quite conclusive that they would have been of no avail. The horses fell into deep water and went under the ice, and were undoubtedly dead when the bystanders had succeeded in rescuing the driver, who came near being drowned. It is perfectly obvious that the horses would not have been drowned had they not become frightened and uncontrollable. For such fright no blame attaches to the ice company. Had the driver of the horses been able to keep the horses under control, he would not have been required to go upon or dangerously near the thin ice, for the scraping he was sent to do, and which the horses were hired to do, was at a point safely distant from the thin ice, and the distance therefrom would have constantly increased as the work progressed. Whereupon the case presents no testimony which. would warrant a finding that the ice company was guilty of any negligence whatever which caused or contributed to the loss of the horses, and the judgment of the Circuit court throwing their loss upon the owner must be affirmed. MINOR LEGAL NOTES. -Washington Butcher's Sons, wholesale dealers in provisions and cold storage at Philadelphia, June 6, made an assignment to Geo. W. Lex. The Arctic Machine Manufacturing Co., Cleveland, has recovered a judgment versus Daniel Duty, and others, of Cleveland, for $7.599.90, part of purchase price of an ice machine. Motion for new trial made. Noah Music, an employe, stepped into a kettle of boiling water some time ago at the Jacob Dold Packing Co.'s plant, Kansas City, and scalded his right leg. He sued for $2,000 damages, and the jury gave him $1,500. -The Independent Ice Co., Chas, and Wm. Bannon, of Richmond, Ind., has gone out of business, owing to the fact that the company could not ship ice into this city from the lakes and sell at a profit in competition with the Union Ice Co. -John Moody, of the Tahoe Ice Co., Reno, Nev., has secured a judgment versus the Union Ice Co., of San Francisco, for $23.123, for damages sustained by the failure of the Union company to take the ice put up by the Tahoe company according to a contract entered into between the two companies. -Joseph P. Fisher, Hamilton, Ohio, June 7, filed a petition praying for the appointment of a receiver and for closing up the business of the Standard Ice Tool Co., of that city. The partnership consists of the plaintiffs, Christ and Peter Benninghofen, A. L. S. Campbell and F. A. Keefer. He says the company is incorporated with a capital stock of 10,000 shares, on which $4,500 worth of stock was issued; that, owing to sickness and the difficulty of raising money, the business cannot be successfully operated; that liabilities, now amounting to $1,300, are due, and cannot be met by the corporation. He believes that the assets exceed the liabilities, but at this time of year are unsalable, and cannot be readily converted into money. A receiver was appointed. TH HE ice distribution charity, which under the direc tion of the New York Herald, was so conspicuously useful last year, has been revived, the free distribution to the sick poor having begun June 1. At the close of last season's distribution $1,400.69 remained unused, to which, up to June 18, something over $1,000 had been. added for the present season's use. Ice is purchased at $2.50 per ton, and distributed to the working poor from fifteen different stations. The mission originated in an investigation suggested by incidents occurring under the eye of one of the newspaper's staff. One of these, the first, was the pitiful appeal of a ragged child for one cent's worth of ice for her sick mother. The one cent was all she could command, and she was refused. The mother was found ill with fever, requiring an ice pack for its alleviation, and unable to retain anything upon her stomach save small fragments of ice. The charity relieved a great amount of misery, and will no doubt become a permanent feature of New York's benevolences, as it has been for a number of years in several southern cities. [Written for ICE AND REFRIGERATION.] A BUSINESS SUGGESTION. (EGG) FOOD FOR REFLECTION-THE MOVEMENT OF EGGS FROM FARM TO MARKET-EFFECT OF COLD STORAGE IN CHANGING THE COURSE OF TRADE. BY D. B. BEEMER. EFORE the advent of the more or less perfected affected by the weather-the range being from 25 to 35 cts. usually, but in isolated cases going up to 50 cts. per dozen, as before mentioned-all these prices having reference to the New York market more particularly. Under such circumstances, the farmer producer realized comparatively little for his crop of eggs, owing to the fact that when the output was heavy prices were ruinously low, and when prices were high he had but few to sell. The few cold storage men in the West then carrying eggs in cold storage were able to buy stock at 8 to 10 cts. per dozen through the spring and summer months, and to get from 20 to 30 cts. per dozen for them in the late fall or early winter months. They made big profits right along, but the farmers quite the contrary. But all that is changed, and a different state of things B system of modern cold storage, the egg trade of prevails now. It has always been the practice in the the country ran in time-worn commercial channels from year to year, with monotonous regularity and sameness. Winter usually brought scarcity of stock and consequent high prices, these last depending on the degree of severity of cold and the depth and spread of snow over the country at large. Prices of eggs under the stimulus of the proper kind of weather, would sometimes go up to 50 cts. per dozen in car load lots in the big markets of the country, but usually prices ranged through the earlier winter months at 25 to 35 cts. per dozen. With the advent of February and southern eggs, prices would ease off, usually to 20 to 25 cts., and with March and universally heavy receipts, prices would fall in New York to 13 and 14 cts. per dozen, New York virtually "setting the pace" for other markets. Through March, April and May, the heaviest producing months of the year, all the markets of the country would be overflowing with eggs, and only the low prices prevailing kept stock closed out through increased consumption. But such low prices at the great trade centers meant very low prices for the farmer producers, and they would become careless about marketing them, preferring rather to utilize them as cheap provisions for the family table, and by putting them under the setting hens to raise a crop of chickens. By June the effects of this would show up in lighter receipts in the big markets, and prices would advance a few cents per dozen and be maintained on this higher level through July and August, say 16 to 18 cts. With the advent of September and cooler weather, prices would begin to stiffen until by October the range would be 20 to 25 cts. per dozen, while through November, December and January one could gamble on the price, as commercial world to keep an observant eye out upon new enterprises and speculations, and when it is demonstrated by any one that there is money in it" the speculative crowd at once "jumps in," so to speak, takes a lively moneyed interest in it, and proceeds to gather as much "cream" off it as possible at the expense of the man who orginated the business, at the cost, perhaps, of money as well as brains. Usually so many embark in the business that ultimately it becomes "overdone," and the profits which formerly attended its prosecution drop out of sight. The business of carrying eggs in cold storage has become an example. Artificial cold storage made it possible for a wide belt of egg producing country to carry eggs for winter trade which hitherto for lack of ice, or because of its high price, had been prevented from doing so. These southern sections thus became competitors of the more northern sections when it came to unloading stocks in the fall and winter, while the vast aggregation of stock held in the big refrigerators at the great trade centers, and in the multitude of smaller ones scattered over the country at interior points, made--and makes-eggs almost as plentiful on the market in the fall and early winter as they are in the spring. As spring eggs are known to be the best for storing, all cold storage men and speculators in eggs naturally want to put away such, and they all want them at the same time. Therefore they compete with each other in buying, and bid up prices in the country until they are relatively higher than in the city market. higher than in the city market. In consequence, ship ments to these become light, and commission houses are practically compelled to compete with country buyers by advancing quotations sufficiently to again draw shipments from the country. Then country buyers, in turn, are obliged to advance prices to keep stock from being shipped past them, or else take the risk of waiting for city markets to become overloaded and prices to recede. The result of this state of things is, that instead of the price of 8 to 10 cts. per dozen which formerly prevailed at interior shipping points throughout the western country, in the spring and summer months, the price is now maintained at about 121⁄2 cts. per dozen. This difference in price, of course, adds largely to the producers' profits-an immense aggregate sum for the country at large, at the expense of the speculators, whose possible profits are reduced correspondingly. Then, on the other hand, it being a recognized fact that "cold" eggs should be marketed as early in the fall as prices will permit, in order to avoid heavy" loss off," there is, in consequence, wide-spread anxiety on the part of the holders of "cold" stock to market it early. This brings them into competition again, the more timid. being satisfied to begin marketing their stock at figures which promise to net them a few cents per dozen profit. They "set the pace" for all others, and so much stock is urged upon the market after October that the bulk of cold storage stock does not usually go above 16 to 18 cts. per dozen. With the stock stored in the first place at 11 to 121⁄2 cts. per dozen, and their selling at 16 to 18 cts. for the great bulk of it, with freight, commission and "loss off" to be yet deducted, it is plain to see that the profit from carrying eggs in cold storage nowadays is whittled down to a very small point indeed. In short, the business is already overdone, and growing worse from year to year as more operators embark in it. This fact is becoming apparent to many operators, who are already curtailing their operations in this line. The great cold storage houses of Chicago afford the most conspicuous example of this, they having this spring notified their country customers that they would no longer make the advances on stock stored with them that they have been in the habit of doing for several years past. As these advances usually represented the value, or thereabout, of the eggs at the interior points from which they were shipped, the shipper virtually got cost price for his eggs to begin with, and then gambled on a possible rise with the cold storage man's money. This was a powerful lever to use in drawing in the eggs necessary to utilize the cold storage and secure, or realize, cold storage charges; and by the withdrawal of "advances "-whether occasioned by developing uncertainties as to resulting profits from which to reimburse the cold storage men for the amount advanced on eggs, not only, but for freights and cold storage charges, and commission as well, or for the alleged reason given out, to the effect that the banks had refused to put up any more money on the warehouse receipts the effect must be to discourage shipments of eggs to them and leave the storehouses largely empty. It is evident that the over-speculation in this line that has prevailed for several years past will have to be curtailed and the fall output"-so to speak-of eggs relatively diminished, so that the stock in hand shall be light enough to give holders confidence to hold for a paying price and not force sales by competition. to unprofitable figures. But there is but little prospect of this being accomplished by the concerted action requisite to bring about such reform; and we may expect, rather, that for every operator led by his own experience to make a change there will be two new operators entering the field. So we shall probably continue to see the farmers getting good stiff prices for their eggs through the spring months and heavy production, and the consumers being supplied in cold weather at but a small advance over summer prices, both at the expense of the speculator who carries the eggs in cold storage, oftener at a less than with profit-all pro bono publico. The cold storage of grapes is apparently becoming a parallel case. In earlier times I used to store grapes here at 22 to 3 cts. per pound and afterward market them at 10 cts. per pound when the market eventually got bare of them later on. But New York and Ohio now ship heavily by car loads all the fall, until near the holidays, and prices seldom get above 3 to 31⁄2 cts. per pound. When the Council Bluffs, Iowa, grape growers shall have completed their large cold storage plant, and are in position to hold their stock at pleasure, and thus be able to put it in competition with that from the east," we may look for further demoralization in prices. [Written for ICE AND REFRIGERATION.} APPLES AT THE WORLD'S FAIR. MORE ABOUT THE COLD STORAGE OF WORLD'S FAIR EXHIBITS OF APPLES-SOME FAILURES, WITH APPARENT REASONS THEREFOR-VEGETABLES-STRAWBERRY SHIPMENTS. TH HE fruit exhibits at the World's Fair, Horticultural department, have demonstrated that apples can be satisfactorily carried over from their season well into the following summer without appreciable loss of quantity or quality. Those exhibits have demonstrated that apples in good condition may be made a perpetual article of diet from one year's end to the other; that the product of the orchards, picked in the fall, may be held in cold storage and drawn on for daily consumption through winter, spring and summer, until the next fall's crop is ready for the consumer. The exhibits have demonstrated even more: That while the so-called "good keepers" may be the most satisfactory apples for carrying over, nevertheless the life of the less hardy varieties may similarly be prolonged for many months. It is by no means certain that the good keepers alone, such as the "Spy," "Ben Davis," etc., are profitable for storage as opposed to varieties called poor keepers; for the results show that all kinds alike have kept well, and that no special varieties exhibit markedly better results when drawn from storage. It must be said right here, however, that apples from the states of Washington, Oregon and Idaho which have not been in cold storage at all, to all appearances have kept quite as well as those which have been in storage. Idaho's fruit, and that of other states also, in a measure, is grown alike on the mountains and in the valleys, with irrigation and without, at altitudes ranging from 600 to 6,000 feet above sea level. Its appearance, size and flavor are all excellent, and it is obvious that the apples are exceptional keepers, showing a length of life. after picking, without special treatment, that no fruit of the eastern states or of the Mississippi valley can hope to rival. The writer will not assume to assign a cause |